


Explain This Shirt, Dude (Spirit Day)

by totallyrandom



Series: LGBTQ Days [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Derek Hale, Bisexual Stiles Stilinski, College Student Stiles, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, NOH8, Spirit Day, anti-bullying, i never write underage sterek, no bullying mentioned, no hate speech mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 13:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4223754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totallyrandom/pseuds/totallyrandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Derek run into each other at the corner store halfway through Stiles's first semester of college. They're both wearing purple for Spirit Day and looking different from how the other remembers them. </p><p>Next Spirit Day (LGBTQ anti-bullying): October 15, 2015<br/>More info: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Day">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_Day</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Explain This Shirt, Dude (Spirit Day)

  

 

***

The Sheriff has been complaining for weeks that his son hasn't made the short 90-minute trip home from college even once since moving into the frosh dorm over 6 weeks ago. But now Stiles has a presentation in class on Tuesday, and he’s completely out of eh-they're-clean-enough clothes. So it was pretty easy to lure him home with the promise of gas money and free laundry. He even promised to eat a disgusting kale-and-tofu scramble or whatever nonsense Stiles was going to cook up for breakfast tomorrow.

Half the department is out with the flu, so the Sheriff can't pull rank and get the whole weekend off. But when he gets home Sunday morning, the house will have shed its silence, feeling like a real home again. He smiles as he tugs at the cuffs of his uniform, straightens his purple-ribbon pin, and downs the rest of his coffee before hopping into the cruiser for his double shift.

***

Stiles rolls into town Saturday morning, way earlier than he’s usually up on a weekend. But he’s so excited to finally see his dad and Scott again that he stayed up all night Friday finishing his presentation so he'd be free Sunday for whole wheat pancakes with his dad and Super Mario Sunday with Scott. Scott doesn't even know he's coming in this weekend, but Stiles texted Deaton to make sure Scott isn’t on call.

First thing when he rolls into town, Stiles pops into the station to say hi to his dad and grab the grocery list. He scans down the list, marking things out and writing substitutes. "No. No. Nope. Ha ha. No way. Oh, definitely not. Oh, come on, Dad! Turkey bacon only. Your annual checkup is next week!"

The sheriff sighs. "Do I want to know how you even know that? Nevermind. I think you owe me real bacon points for remembering to wear the anti-bullying pin you sent me today."

"And I love your wonderful, healthy heart for that very much, Pops."

"Fine, fine. Just mark it off the list entirely. There's plenty of that healthy crap in the freezer still."

"That better be because you've been having fresh fruit and egg-white omelettes, not because you’re going to the diner everyday."

Stiles squints at him, but he just smiles innocently.

Stiles squints harder. "See you in the morning, old man. Be safe."

***

The final grocery list is pretty short and simple because Stiles had stocked the house with healthy nonperishables before he left. And his dad had avoided them. So he just needs to hit up the corner store on his way home for some skim milk and salad. He's pondering some low-fat frozen yogurt when he sees a familiar reflection in the freezer door. Stiles grins and waves over his shoulder as he starts digging through the cartons.

Derek grumbles, "Can’t even sneak up on a human."

"Yeah, well, you're getting rusty, dude. Unlike vampires, werewolves have reflections, duh" Stiles smirks. "Wait, are vampires really real? Do they hate werewolves? Is it a rivalry for the ages? Did Twilight get something right? Should we be preparing for a whole Sharks-and-Jets-showdown-at-the-dance-hall kind of thing? Should we practice synchronized snapping? You really should warn us about stuff like this, Derek."

Derek lets Stiles wind himself down, not bothering to respond. He just stands there silently, hands in his pockets.

"Oooooookay. Well, good chat as always, Silent Wolf. Very informative. Glad we could catch up and all."

Derek rolls his eyes, even though Stiles still has his head in the freezer and can't see it.

"Hey. What are you even doing here, dude?" Stiles asks.

Derek deadpans, "Hot Pockets. Tired of bunny tails in my teeth."

"Ha ha."

"Scott didn't say you'd be here."

"You and Scotty actually talk now, Chatty Wolf? About pack issues? Are you finally wolfy brothers just like you always wanted? That’s so sweet.”

"He's almost nice now that the pack moved away,” Derek admits. “You digging for gold in there?"

"Stop. Stop. Oh my god. That was like two jokes in the same day. Be honest with me, dude. Are you possessed? Did a witch curse you with a personality? If so, will it wear off or is the improvement permanent? Should we be dropping everything and heading to an apocalypse bunker right now?"

"Get your own bunker. I'm not sharing."

"Stop! Stop!" Stiles turns around and buries his head in his hands, laughing so hard he's gasping. He breathes in hard and scrubs his hands over his face a few times before running them back through his hair.

Now that they’re facing each other, Stiles sees that Derek is actually wearing a color. Something other than black. And he’s shaved clean. It makes him look softer, younger. Stiles just gapes at him, unable to speak.

That’s ok, though, because Derek is staring, too. First at Stiles’s hair, which is long enough for the spectacular bedhead he’s sporting right now. Then at his strong forearms and broad shoulders, on display because he’s wearing clothes he must have outgrown this year. The hoodie is just shy of obscenely small, clearly with no shirt underneath. The jeans are even tighter, not quite covering his ankles.

“Why are you here, Stiles.”

Stiles just sweeps a hand down his body. “Guess."

“Yeah. Smelled your laundry mountain from across the parking lot.”  
  
“Right?!” Stiles laughs. “Crap. I should go. Laundry is going to take aaaaaaaall day. At least I can practice Mario at the same time. I’m going to beat Scott’s ass tomorrow.”

“Scott knows you’re here.”

“Nope. I’m just going to pounce on him at work this afternoon and give him the good news. It’s going to be an epic surprise.”

“Jeep won’t be aired out in time.”

“Hey! … But good point. It’s so ripe it’s disgusting. I had to ride here with the windows down the whole way. I barely made it. Ugh. I have to rethink my strategy.”

Derek ducks his head and lets a small smile slip.

“Sooooooo, what are you doing later, Snuggle Wolf?”

Derek chokes, eyes wide.

“Um. Not like us snuggling. Of course. Not like that. Just, like, the Snuggle laundry bear? From those old commercials? It’s a laundry thing. Nevermind. Back to the point … you fancy taking me for a spin in your Camaro later? Perhaps in the general direction of the animal clinic, for example?”

“You’re not getting in my car like that.”

“Ugh. Ok, ok. I promise not to offend your delicate wolfy nose, dude. Just follow me home like a good puppy and I’ll shower and change. Then you can give me a ride.” Stiles winks at him.

Derek frowns. “Do I look like a chauffeur?”

Stiles looks him up and down. “No. No, you do not. Chauffeurs don’t wear purple douche-neck shirts.”

Derek frowns down at his shirt.

“C’mon, dude. I hauled your wolfsbane-poisoned ass around plenty of times back in high school. You bled on my baby’s seats. You so owe me this. Plus, we can pull one over on Scott?”

“I saved your ass from a unicorn hunting virgins.”

“We are so not even, dude. Do you want me to count them all out? I can do it. And at least unicorns will never be a problem for me again,” Stiles smirks. “Seriously, I promise my ass is very, very safe now. Very.” His hoodie pulls up a bit as he raises his hand to swear to it.

Derek doesn’t stare at his bare stomach. Really. Instead, he tracks the movement of Stiles’s hand, eyes catching on the purple bracelet on his wrist.

“What are you starting at, dude? Oh, this?” he asks, fingers tracing the purple hemp bracelet. “Uh. Today is Spirit Day? It’s, um, the anti-bullying …"  
  
“I know,” Derek says.

“You know what?”

Derek rolls his eyes. “What Spirit Day is, dumbass.”

“Ha! I knew! I mean, I didn’t know that you knew that exactly. But I knew you wouldn’t normally be wearing a shirt that’s not black like your brooding soul. Like, on a normal day that would never happen. Have I ever seen you wear a color before? I don’t think so. Is it because black hides blood stains really well? That’s so sad. Now I’m sad.”

Derek rolls his eyes.

“But, back to the point. Why are you wearing something for Spirit Day?”

“Sheriff won’t let me walk around town naked.”

“Oh my gooooooood. Stop with your awful jokes, Unfunny Wolf. I mean you never even go anywhere in public for people to see what you’re wearing! The woodland creatures don’t care what color you’re wearing. So why do you even own anything purple? Who do you think is going to see you wearing it?”

Derek raises and eyebrow and gestures to where they are.

“Oh. my. god. Did you actually go buy a purple shirt just in case you had to go somewhere today? You ridiculous Softy Wolf.” Derek just looks at him, clearly unimpressed.

“Seriously. Explain this shirt, dude,” Stiles says, patting at Derek’s shirt with each syllable. But he gets distracted because it’s really soft. He accidentally ends up just kind of petting Derek’s chest for a minute.

Derek stops breathing. He catches Stiles’s hand and instead of pushing it away, he tugs on the purple band. “I don’t actually need to buy anything today,” he whispers. “I just wanted to support other … ”

Stiles gasps and looks from Derek’s fingers stroking his wrist up to his wide, vulnerable eyes.

“So … ” Stiles croaks. He clears his throat and starts again in a whisper. “So, I’ll pay for this and then you’ll follow me home? And give me a ride?”

Derek nods slowly, blushing. He turns to head to the back of the store.

“I thought you said you didn’t need to buy anything!” Stiles yells at Derek’s back.

Derek turns around and smirks. “And now I do.”

Stiles clears his throat, determined to have the last word. “Ok. Just use the front door this time, Creeper Wolf!”

***

The Sheriff surprises them by saying he’s ok with ex-murder-suspect and actual-werewolf Derek Hale sitting at his kitchen table. At 8 am. Wearing Stiles’s old lacrosse jersey. But only because there’s real bacon and chocolate-chip pancakes.

**Author's Note:**

> Photo credits:
> 
> Derek: from Haylie Duff’s cookbook, _The Real Girl’s Kitchen_
> 
> Stiles: from _Da Man_ magazine


End file.
